Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

cale's hands trail down his neck, traces the thin jut of his collarbone. he breathes in rok soo's ear; he smells like sweet wine. "can i tell you something?" rok soo can hear the smile in his voice, and can feel his own flush on his cheeks as cale whispers, so close to him.

"yeah?"

cale leans closer, practically slipping off his barstool and making his way onto rok soo's lap. "i'd really like to take you home, gorgeous," he purrs. his hand is warm around rok soo's neck; he hopes cale doesn't hear his breath hitch. that would be embarassing.

rok soo tries dutifully to ignore the eyes of the other customers in the bar; even the owner is gaping wide-eyed at how cale henituse is draping himself all over this random guy. while cale has been well established as a drunkard and a violent brat, he's never done anything like this. rok soo tries very hard to focus on the feel of cale's body pressed flush against him, the quiet tone of his voice. "i'd really like that too," he murmurs, almost stuttering.

cale shows his teeth in a smile, wolfish and hungry and so, so breathtaking. rok soo feels every crevice of his body light up in heat, not just from the buzz he got from the alcohol.

+

cale sneaks him home, surprisingly stealthy despite the evident flush of liquor in his cheeks; he might even be more sober than rok soo. he's definitely stumbling a bit more than the count's son; he's never drunk too much alcohol, though he's familiarly acquainted with people who do. cale leads him, giggling, through the window of one of the buildings in the henituse's estate, slings an arm over rok soo's shoulder as they drunkenly traipse the halls through to cale's bedroom. the amount of shining gold rok see sees along the way gives him a bit of a headache. however, all sensations of pain disappear the moment cale nudges him through his door and shuts it behind him, throwing his arms around rok soo and kissing him fervently now that they're in the privacy of his room. all he can focus on, then, is how close cale is, the plush feel of lips against his.

"god, you really are so pretty," he mumbles, breaking away to gasp for some air. rok soo feels his voice, low and confessional, send a shiver down his spine. cale's face is pale but flushed pink-red with wine and lust; his eyes, red-brown like his own, are glinting almost gold in the dim light.

rok soo presses his lips to the edge of cale's jaw, trailing a line down his neck. "like you can say anything," he mutters weakly, because it's true. rok soo is nothing special; cale, hair and collar disheveled, looks like an angel.

cale laughs, bright and airy. "aw, you flatterer," he sighs, and smirks at him before pushing him onto the bed.

+

his head feels like hell. he groans, nuzzles further into his pillow. then, waking up a bit more, realises that his pillow is in fact not a pillow but another person. he squints, hating how the sunlight magnifies his hangover, and sees one cale henituse snuggled up against him, his head tucked into the crook of his neck, red strands of hair lying across rok soo's cheek. rok soo squirms a bit to get comfortable, and cale shifts in response. a few more moments and the count's son is blinking blearily, noticing his presence and grinning.

"well, good morning, beautiful." he sticks a kiss to rok soo's cheek. he doesn't seem hungover at all, the asshole; though it makes sense. while last night seemed like a lot of alcohol for rok soo, it was just a regular day for cale.

rok soo hums, still feeling too tired for speaking. he relishes in the feel of the soft, silky sheets and luxurious bed. it's like sleeping on clouds, he could lay here forever.

there's the sound of a door creaking, and the soft tinkle of ceramic. "good morning, young master," he hears- an old, professional voice. he gets a shiver, though this time it's not the good kind.

he resolutely does not turn around to look at him. he's going to enjoy this bed. he snuggles further into the satin and stays silent. cale says, "can't you see i'm a little busy, ron," in an annoyed scoff.

"apologies. i brought another cup of tea for your... guest, if he so wishes." so ron already knew he was there. well, he was an assassin. should have guessed, rok soo thinks glumly.

"he doesn't want it. i don't either. scram," cale shoots back, mean and dismissive, trashy persona firmly plastered on. rok soo internally admits that it's kind of hot.

ron doesn't say anything else on the matter. before bowing out and leaving, he tacks on, "the master hopes you could come down for dinner," which cale answers with a string of profanity.

when ron's gone, the creepy butler's footsteps fading, cale pokes him on the shoulder. "c'mon, you scaredy-cat, he's gone."

rok soo sniffs. he is not a scaredy-cat, he just has a healthy sense of self preservation. "i'm hungry," he says instead. his eyes are shut, but he can distinctly sense that cale's rolling his eyes.

"you're not nearly as cute as you were last night," cale complains, but there's no real malice in his voice. "let's get down for breakfast then."

Chapter Text

rok soo's clothes are in dirty piles along cale's sleek tiled floor, so he borrows some of the redhead's instead. they're a similar size, since he's in his eighteen-year-old form. he thinks he looks strange, in the custom-tailored blouse, puffy sleeves and ruffled collar. there's even inlaid gemstones along the hem. he does a turn, looks at himself in the mirror.

cale's fixing up his hair, lathering it through with some sort of gel or oil. he rubs some lotion into his face with a focused expression. manouvreing his hair into an artful swoop, he turns to grin at rok soo. "you look so delicious in my clothes," he says with no small amount of relish, sauntering up to him, moving his hands to settle on the grooves of rok soo's hips.

"you're so annoying," the black-haired teen complains, but doesn't make any movement to lean away from him. cale's grin just widens, and he sticks an indulgent kiss to his lips, which rok soo grudgingly returns, before flinching a bit when his stomach rumbles. cale giggles, and ushers him downstairs, hand on the small of his back.

now that his mind isn't dizzy with liquor, rok soo can properly appreciate just how opulent the henituse estate is. all the floors are a shiny marble, making a sleek clacking noise whenever his heels step on them. the walls are adorned with gold, pearlescent statues and paintings lining the hallways. as he goes down the staircase, he runs his hand admiringly along the golden rails. he lets out a low whistle of awe- this place is teeming with riches.

behind him, cale laughs at rok soo's lust for gold. "baby, don't tell me you only like me for my money," he teases, and rok soo only hums non-committally in response.

once they reach the end of the staircase, rok soo sees cale's persona wash over his face, changing his posture to an angry slouch, putting a scowl on his face. even his stride seems different now- peeved, more rushed and annoyed in his walk. cale darts a glance towards rok soo before clasping his hand tightly in his own, dragging him along. "sorry," he mutters, quietly, before they're in sight of the henituse family.

"it's fine," rok soo whispers back. he looks at their interlocked fingers, squeezing slightly. cale's mouth flickers, just for a second, into a smile before returning back to that intimidating frown.

when the dining room (not so much a room as an entire hall, rok soo thinks incredulously) comes into view, he's immediately greeted by a rich scent of sausages and spiced vegetables and fried eggs. his mouth waters.

the man at the table- deruth, cale's father, rok soo guesses- startles when the two of them come into view, almost falling out of his chair. "c-cale!"

the aforementioned son doesn't respond back. he's glaring at the empty seat at the table- his seat - and he snaps his fingers at the nearest servant, grounding out, "why's there only one chair here? in case you can't see, there's two people here, idiot."

the servant, a plain-faced man, visibly recoils and stutters out, "i-i'm so sorry, young master, we w-weren't aware you had a guest-"

"is everyone in this house incompetent? stop crying and hurry up and get a chair."

with a squeak, the servant flees away to obey his orders. rok soo stands awkwardly behind cale, not quite sure what to do. he should wait until the servant comes back with the chair, but the food smells so goddamn good, like something out of a movie, an entire feast laid out on the table right in front of him. he tugs on cale's blouse.

cale raises an eyebrow. "you can sit in my chair and start eating now," he offers, and immediately rok soo pounces onto the chair and takes the plate in front of him. it's arrayed with an artful salad and sausages, as well as two fried eggs with runny yolks. grabbing a fork, he pierces it into the nearest sausage and bites. it's so good. he thinks he's just gone to heaven. he hums in appreciation and continues eating. the pork is rich and juicy, and the vegetables refreshing and crunchy.

as he eats, cale drapes himself over the chair, arms wrapped loosely around rok soo's neck. he settles his chin on top of his head, nestled in his hair. glancing up, rok soo brings up his food-laden fork to cale's mouth, who obligingly takes a bite.

"it's good, right?" rok soo asks.

cale looks at him, smiling. "yeah, yeah."

across the table, rok soo hears the clatter of a fork. looking around, he finds the source: basen, cale's brown-haired younger brother, has startled so strongly that his fork fell onto his plate with a clang. his eyes are wide.

confused, rok soo stares at him. cale, following the noise, looks at him too. realising the eyes on him, basen blushes, coughs, and picks up his fork, stumbling as he continues to eat again. "apologies," he mumbles out.

"hm." rok soo hums. maybe basen is just clumsy? though, it doesn't seem to suit the personality of studious, rigid basen. he sends a questioning glance up to cale, who only smiles at him knowingly. so cale knows why, but won't tell him? rok soo huffs and takes a bite out of a fried egg, swallowing down the creamy yolk, he realises something; "cale, can we go out today?"

there's a choking sound that echoes in the room, and maybe even the clatter of another piece of cutlery. "if you want."

he's about to say more, but he's interrupted by the hurried footsteps of the servant returning, heaving a chair in his arms. "y-young master," he puffs out, clearly breathless.

cale stands up. "took you long enough," he sneers, snatching it from the servant's grip and placing it next to rok soo. the moment he does so, he shoos the servant away. sitting down, he frowns. "and the idiot didn't think to bring another set of cutlery as well," he mutters, scooting closer to rok soo. "whatever, i'll just eat from your plate." he opens his mouth and rok soo feeds him the other fried egg.

chewing, cale turns to the other end of the table, where the count is sitting. "father, i'm planning to go out today. can i please have some money?"

"u-um? yes, of course, cale, i'll do that as soon as possible." violan subtly sends him a stony look. "ah, son, who's your, emm, friend?"

cale raises an eyebrow at how tactless deruth is. he'd almost forgotten how much of a bumbling fool he was. "this is rok soo. he's my..." he thinks it over for a moment. "he's my boyfriend."

deruth not so subtly chokes. basen has stopped eating to gape at him. lily, who has previously only been eating happily with some curious glances towards rok soo and cale, chirps out, "so you guys love each other?"

rok soo hums. "maybe in the future. not yet." he offers. lily seems to accept that answer and returns to her food, though not before adding, "it's nice to meet you, rok soo." she has a bit of a lisp, still being young, and butchers his name slightly, but he'll take it in stride.

deruth's choked spluttering eventually evens out to a few weak coughs. "h, how long have you been... together?"

"last night," cale says flippantly. "i think we get along pretty well," he smirks at rok soo, who gives him an unimpressed look.

deruth turns red, spotting the innuendo. so does basen. violan, perhaps, has too much decorum to do so- cale has always admired her restraint. she says, "it's a pleasure to meet you, rok soo." even though there is a slight strain in her voice, she sounds a lot more put together than the father and brother.

rok soo nods, a bit awkwardly. he's never really dated, let alone gotten to a meet-the-parents stage. "...thank you, ma'am." he hopes that's good enough.

with the awkward atmosphere of the room, he's suddenly lost his appetite. he'd already eaten most of the food already, though, so he's not too bothered by it. he nudges cale's shoe from under the table with his own.

cale tells his father, "rok soo and i will be leaving soon." he looks at him expectantly.

"r-right! i will send a servant to bring you the money.... will ten million gallons be enough?"

rok soo's jaw almost dropped onto the table. ten million ? for one day out? this family really was wealthy...

cale only nodded dismissively like it was an ordinary amount. "yes. please send me the cheque as soon as possible... rok soo and i will be getting ready in my room." he stands up and rok soo follows.

"right, i'll send the servant up there," deruth ekes out, sounding a bit nonplussed.

cale seemed to be ignoring it, so rok soo decided to as well. taking rok soo's hand again, cale briskly left to go back to his bedroom.

while they were walking, rok soo felt that the meeting went quite well.